Chevron Phillips Chemical surprised Kruse Elementary students in Pasadena ISD with a special campus visit Oct. 11 for Fire Prevention Week.
More than 300 students in Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade got a first-hand lesson in fire safety and emergency response thanks to members of Chevron Phillips Chemical’s Emergency Response Team in Pasadena who volunteered to visit the school.
“Bringing this event to elementary school students is not work; it’s just as fun and enjoyable for us as it is the kids,” said Joe Reynolds, emergency response and security coordinator at Chevron Phillips Chemical’s Pasadena facility. “We even overheard one of the boys tell his buddy that this was the best day of his life; even better than Christmas. It’s inspiring this kind of reaction in children that keep us doing this event year after year.”
The students were able to see and get inside of one of the petrochemical plant’s in-house fire trucks and learn about its safety equipment and hear its emergency horn blow. They were also introduced to a firefighter’s safety clothing while several students were able to try on the jacket and hat.
Volunteers also demonstrated the use of a fire extinguisher and talked about the importance of calling 9-1-1, what to do in case of a fire, and how to perform the stop-drop-and-roll technique. Students took home red, plastic firefighter hats as souvenirs from the event.
Fire Prevention Week is an annual event supported by the National Fire Prevention Association. Public and private fire departments from around the country perform classroom presentations or host a community open house to educate the public on fire safety.
Fire Prevention Week is on record as the longest running public health observance, according to the National Archives and Records Administration’s Library Information Center. President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the first National Fire Prevention Week in 1925. It is observed on the Sunday through Saturday period in which October 9 falls, in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, which began October 8, 1871 and lasted through October 9. The Great Chicago Fire killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres.
Joe Reynolds, emergency response and security coordinator for Chevron Phillips Chemical, teaches a group of students at Kruse Elementary in Pasadena ISD the importance of fire safety during Fire Prevention Week.
Kruse Elementary students Naima Garcia, Madison Montañez, Cesaliy Sims, Adiana Alvarez, Adrian Corona, and Axton Delgado try on the junior firefighter hats Chevron Phillips Chemical brought them during Fire Prevention Week.